Overcoming self-doubt in emerging leadership 

The coaching journey

Some critical insights emerge from the assessment. Firstly, Drew’s level of focus on leading stakeholders seems low, and he especially seems to be using leaning towards more informal networker behaviors. Secondly, Drew’s orientation towards transformer behaviors, which focus on shaping strategy to deliver results through innovative ways of creating value is also low. Drew is concerned, given that his mandate for the role is business transformation and he knows that building a supportive network is critical to achieving this.

Working through the results of the self-assessment and 360-degree feedback with the coach, Drew begins to look more objectively at the situation and at how his current state of mind may be impacting how he answered the diagnostics. Drew is considerably younger than most of his colleagues and does not share an engineering background. This feeling of being an ‘outsider’ stands in stark contrast for Drew to the success he has previously enjoyed, ascending quickly through the ranks to strategic leadership responsibilities.
On the one hand, these promotions speak clearly to Drew’s ability. On the other hand, rising so quickly through the organization has knocked Drew out of his comfort zone, and impacted his confidence and self-belief. Drew is feeling out of his depth, lost and lonely.

The coach encourages Drew to review how his previous two promotions played out, and how long it took him to settle into each new role. A pattern emerges: Drew typically struggles with self-doubt and needs a period of adaptation before feelings of inadequacy or persecution dissipate. The coach helps Drew to see that despite these initial wobbles, he has consistently managed to make successful career transitions; successful promotions that attest to Drew’s real capacity for strategy and team leadership. In other words, there can be little doubt that Drew is more than equipped to make a success of this role.

Talking to the coach, something else surfaces. Drew’s behavior has become excessively formal in meetings and discussions with the reporting team and senior management. This is a defense mechanism: in limiting responses to questions and maintaining a certain distance from colleagues, Drew is also capping the potential for mistakes or disagreement. But this is erroneous thinking. The coach helps Drew to appreciate how excessive formality that can be mis-interpreted as being arrogant or pushy. What’s more, Drew’s nature is intrinsically sociable and warm; he has an innate talent for making connections and building trust with other people, and this is being inhibited by these defensive behaviors.

Armed with these critical insights, Drew and the coach work on a roadmap designed to help Drew secure the support and buy-in needed to align the team around the change objectives that they will need to execute.